Days passed by like this.
In the village, the villagers had the wolf meat they had previously divided up, plus the various supplies Zhang Cheng had brought back, so they weren't worried about having a bad New Year.
The smoke billowing from the chimneys of every household seemed to have a bit more confidence than in previous years.
Early in the morning.
Zhang Cheng slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes still seemingly damp with the frost of last night.
He raised his hand to rub his eyes, and a movement in his arms revealed that the crazy woman had been awakened by the cold wind seeping in through the gap in the blanket.
"Cold...?" she mumbled indistinctly, snuggling closer to Zhang Cheng.
"It's okay, you can sleep a little longer!"
Zhang Cheng spoke softly, placing his palm on her greasy, tangled hair and gently rubbing it. This hair really needed washing; he'd boil water soon. He thought to himself.
He carefully lifted a corner of the blanket, trying not to let in any cold air. Even so, just the touch of his arm to the chill in the room made Zhang Cheng shiver.
He quickly put on his inner lining, cotton-padded jacket, and cotton shoes, his breath steaming in the air, and walked out of the mud house.
now.
Over at the main house, Old Zhang's family had also woken up, and a sorrowful smell permeated the kang (heated brick bed).
We received some snow wolf meat, over ten kilograms, and with the little coarse grains we had left at home, theoretically we wouldn't starve and should be able to last until spring.
The problem is, comparisons are odious. Just thinking about how Zhang Cheng brought back a bunch of rare city goods—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, even piles of white rice and other things I'd never even heard of—makes me incredibly frustrated.
The Zhang family, except for Er Ya who remained silent, felt disgusted by the "Pegasus" brand cigarettes, as if they had swallowed flies.
Old Zhang puffed on his pipe, the smoke swirling around him, making his worried expression even more pronounced.
He was filled with regret. How could he have been so blinded by greed and insisted on splitting up the family property?
According to the villagers, Zhang Cheng met a benefactor in the county and got in touch with the supply and marketing cooperative!
Yesterday at the ancestral hall, that kid was handing out cigarettes to everyone he met—good cigarettes that cost over 40 cents a pack, and he didn't even blink. What an attitude!
Then I think about my own family, sigh!
Now the villagers look at them differently. They point and whisper behind their backs, saying they are blind to talent, choosing to stay with the useless Zhang An instead of the capable Er Gouzi.
"Wife!" Zhang An suddenly turned his head and looked at Er Ya, who was heavily pregnant, with a calculating glint in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Er Ya looked up, her eyes clear but with a hint of confusion.
"Ahem." Zhang An coughed twice, lowering his voice to almost a whisper.
"Weren't you chatting quite well with that crazy guy... and your sister-in-law? Why don't you go ask Er Gouzi if you can... spare some flour or rice? Just say... just say you want something nice to eat."
Er Ya's eyes widened instantly, as if she had heard something unbelievable.
Go ask? She kindly suggested that Er Gouzi take the polygonatum from home to sell, and what happened? Everyone treated her like a thief, either calling her stupid or accusing her of siding with outsiders.
Now look what's happened, they suddenly want to let her go? Is their skin made of a city wall corner?
"I...I'm not going!" Er Ya suddenly lowered her head, her voice soft and stubborn, not daring to look at Zhang An's expectant face.
“Cui ah.”
The old woman on the other side of the kang (heated brick bed) spoke, her tone as usual harsh and self-righteous.
"If you don't think about us old folks, you should at least think about the baby in your belly! Look at what you're eating now? Dark, coarse grains, what nutrition can that provide? I've heard that if you don't eat well while pregnant, the baby will be born with a tail!"
Er Ya's lips twitched violently. Good heavens, this curse doesn't even spare her own grandson? Eating coarse grains makes you grow a tail? When you were pregnant with Anzi and Er Gouzi, were you eating ginseng every day or bird's nest at every meal?
She simply lowered her head even further, turning her back to her family, determined to play dead. She simply couldn't bring herself to do it. Besides, whenever she visited her younger siblings, they always gave her something to eat; she wouldn't go hungry.
"Sigh... Tomorrow is the Little New Year!" Old Zhang, who had been sitting silently on the threshold, letting the cold wind blow on him, looked at the gray sky in the yard and said in a low voice with an indescribable complex feeling, "Later, I'll go ask Er Gouzi if he can sell us some rice and flour."
"Husband!" The old woman immediately became displeased upon hearing this, her voice shrill, "Er Gouzi is your son! You want to ask him for something, and you have to pay him?!"
"We've split up!" Old Zhang suddenly stood up, his face showing a weariness and melancholy worn down by reality. He braced himself on his knees to steady himself. "Give me the money and food coupons, I'm going to find Er Gouzi."
"I'm not going to get it!" The old woman turned her head to the side, huffing and puffing.
Old Zhang didn't say anything more. He hunched over and went into the inner room to search.
Soon, Old Zhang, with a few crumpled coins and grain coupons in his pocket, walked out of the inner room expressionlessly and headed towards the gate.
Seeing this, Zhang An glared fiercely at Er Ya, who was still looking down, and muttered curses:
"What good are you? You won't even go ask about something so trivial. I'd rather raise a dog than keep you..."
The old woman next to her immediately chimed in, scolding Er Ya for being so ignorant, spitting as she spoke.
Er Ya buried her head in her knees, her shoulders trembling slightly, her heart filled with grievances she had nowhere to confide in.
backyard.
Zhang Chenggang splashed cold water on his face, his spirits lifted, and he began to assume a horse stance.
His body leaned slightly forward and swayed back, his center of gravity was steady, and his breathing was long and deep, as if he were not standing on the snow, but riding an invisible steed, rising and falling with the rhythm of the horse's gallop.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
